Direct write in Opera 39 [2]

I can't really understand for what reason topics with russian should be closed, but ok. As Moderns classic calls "No russian". Then let's discuss in english why "directwrite" option was removed. It's very uncomfortable to use browser with smaller and uglier fonts. Hope this topic shall not be closed due to politic or national questions.

Come on devs, dont make me switch to another browser. Please return option to disabe directwrite. With new update when i open Opera i feel like drunk - texts are so unclear. I just cant use my favorite browser right now((

Come on devs, dont make me switch to another browser. Please return option to disabe directwrite. With new update when i open Opera i feel like drunk - texts are so unclear. I just cant use my favorite browser right now((

As you should have read in this topic, it's a Chromium change and will affect all Chromium based browsers as long as they start using the Chromium build with the flag removed.

Its simple for me, I stay with 38 version for good. Disable autoupdate is enough solution if developers force users to read so blurred text. I just cant read from the screen if browser renders fonts with directwrite.

Go to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Opera" and delete file "installation_status.xml" from folder "old_status" copy installation_status.xml.1470434916 and rename in normal name) plus delete or rename opera_autoupdate.exe in "38.0.2220.41" if old version not delete

...
I think this particular "fork," if that's even what it is, is important enough to do. And it's only an option, as before; it's not mandating anything. Also, doesn't Opera go its own way a lot of the time? Is it a strict Chromium/Blink clone, or are they always talking about their "contributions" to the project? A "fork" by a different name?

If GDI support itself has been or is being removed from the chromium code (which is only logical if they've removed the option to select it) in support of DirectWrite, then Opera's forking chromium in future versions to support the GDI option could indeed represent a major operation - hence a major cost element. It puts Opera back into the position of supporting its own rendering engine, even if only in part. Each subsequent chromium update would have to be examined by Opera and the chromium code changes imported into the Opera chromium fork, along with Opera having to create whatever (if any) modifications needed to those updates to be compatible with the fork's codebase, then heavy Opera testing would be required to make sure nothing has been broken.

Developers of a browser either must support their own rendering engine (as Opera did with Presto) or they must use intact a rendering engine supplied by an outside entity (as with chromium). If the latter path was chosen because of cost efficiency, going back to the former path abandons that cost efficiency. The price of obtaining the cost efficiency from an 'outside engine' is loss of ultimate control of the design decisions embedded in the rendering engine.

I think this particular "fork," if that's even what it is, is important enough to do

It's hard to say because we don't have enough data showing how many want an option to disable Direct write.

And it's only an option, as before; it's not mandating anything.

As i said once before somewhere: more options means more code and more code may lead to more bugs and difficulties in maintain the code. So they (options, features, etc) should always be discussed and investigated before being implemented.

Leaving no option for users to disable DirectWrite is really strange move. DirectWrite doesn't do its work better than old font rendering technique. I do thinking about switching to FF, since it has better fonts.

When DirectWrite is enabled, Chrome displays more unreadable and blurry fonts in grayscale rendering. This is because DirectWrite performs much worse in grayscale anti-aliasing than the good old GDI. ClearType tuning might help but for some people it's simply not an option because it's still blurry and because of the colorspace pollution (color bleeding, fringes) it causes. The problem is that GDI support has been removed from Chromium so we're now forced to read blurry fonts. The solution is to revert the changes that removed GDI font rendering support and add back the Disable DirectWrite flag.

There is already an outrage on Google Product Forums because of the removal of GDI rendering ("Disable DirectWrite" option). A lot of people are complaining about blurry, unreadable fonts.

I have created a petition and tried to raise some attention on online forums. Please sign / share / promote this petition and show Google that we are opposing the withdrawal of our freedom of choice.